Forbes History: The Original 1987 List Of International Billionaires

Five years after introducing the now famous Forbes 400 list, the wealth team undertook a project that would set the stage for what has become a staple of modern media: the World's Billionaires List. In the days before google and the web, wealth reporters scoured the globe, making phone calls, traveling to Asia and reading through documents to uncover and pinpoint fortunes (we still do that but the Internet certainly helps). They were able to find the richest man in the world, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Japan, in addition to 95 also-rans from overseas.

Though the concept is still the same, a lot has changed in the last 25 years. Aside from the evolution of our valuation methods, there has been a large shift in the source of wealth, not to mention nearly double digit growth in the number of billionaires on the list. This year, we identified 1,226 individuals, with 801 coming from abroad. In 1987, Forbes found 140 billionaires including 96 outside of the U.S.

These trailblazers have more in common with today's wealthy elite than perhaps might be expected. Roughly 60% of that first class were self-made, with only Europe having predominately old, inherited money. They made their money predominately in real estate (24), manufacturing (17), and retail (15). Today the non-u.s. billionaires still get the bulk of their fortunes from those industries (the only difference is that many by now have diversified into other areas and have turned their businesses into sprawling conglomerates.)

Click the gallery at the top of this page to see pictures and read bios of the 10 richest international billionaires in 1987. (Americans were listed only in the Forbes 400 at that time; they weren't combined into a worldwide list for at least another decade). The complete list with names, estimated net worths and sources of wealth is listed below.